Survivor in the Wreckage
by This.Sophisticated.Name
Summary: The Walking Dead survivors find Captain Sonya Eisenhower in the wreckage of her ship after a devastating end to the entire U.S Navy. This starts during the break between Season 2 and Season 3. Daryl x OC
1. Chapter 1

Lt. Sonya Eisenhower ran through corridors, gripping her gun and firing random bursts of rounds at the dead sailors following her closely. She slammed into walls as she tried to steer her way through the network of hallways.

"Help! Ple-" A voice screams out from a cabin beside her. She barely pauses to take in the sight of a crew member being ripped to shreds by one of the undead cooks. There was no helping them now. All she could do is pray he doesn't turn.

Sonya's mind was racing. _What are these things? Why won't they die? What's happened to everyone attacked? _No information has reached her from the medical ward, the first section of the ship to go down into chaos. Sonya was in her bunk sleeping when the screams of her crew reached her ears. Then Johnny grabbed her and they fled to the top of the ship. They were separated early in the disaster and she hadn't seen him since.

It's been 3 days in this hell.

In front of her was another wave of walkers rapidly approaching her while behind her was an ever growing pack. She shot through their skulls, but only a few dropped, the rest climbed on over and ran for her. She was barely lucky enough to reach her destination, the control room. She launches against the door but it was locked. She steps away and shoots the lock off. She was just out of the reach of the walkers when she slams the door shut on their faces.

"Shit!" She yells.

She pushes against the door with all of her might, breathing hard from the terrifying rush of adrenaline that pushed her into survival mode. She spotted the radio set on the captain's desk beside her on her right. Captain Davis's body was slouched in the chair with a gun in his lap and a bullet through his brain. She shook her head in shame. The man who was supposed to lead them into the worst of battles was one of the first to opt out.

"Admiral Burkett to Captain Davis, what is your status?" The radio's speaker booms out into the room.

She stretches out a hand to the radio without moving from her position blocking the door but the radio was just out of reach. It took all her strength to hold the door shut and there was no way to reach the radio without the hoard of walkers filling up the room.

More and more groans and growls erupted from the other side of the door as the crowd collects, making it harder to keep the door shut. She holds the door shut with her foot and grabs hold of the desk to her left. She piled furniture over the door, barricading herself into the room.

"Mayday, Mayday. We have been infected and over run, Admiral. Captain Davis and many, many others… opted out hours ago. There are only a handful of us left… and a countless number of them." There was a short pause while she waits for a response and another scream echoes through the ship as one of her mates were savagely attacked by the undead threat onboard.

She was ready for the dreaded words from the admiral, ending all hope for a rescue. Somewhere on the lines of 'Every man for himself'

"What is your name, sailor?" He responds, assertively. "Lieutenant Sonya Eisenhower, sir."

"Lieutenant Eisenhower you are now promoted to Captain. We are not the army, Captain Eisenhower and I will not ditch the last of my sailors. We will try our best to reach your coordinates."

Sonya could barely suppress a squeal as relief lifted her chest.

"Thank you, Admiral. Godspeed." She says, grabbing hold of the automatic rifle in her arms.

She dropped the radio and loaded a new mag. It was time to get control of her ship back.

"What is that? Carl hollers excitedly as he approaches a projecting object out of the rocks. The beach waves crash on the surface of the wreckage violently.

"I'm going to check it out!" He says, running out of reach before anyone could say otherwise. Rick immediately ran after the boy, followed by a pregnant Lori. The rest of the group followed closely behind.

As they got closer, the 'object' in the rocks ended up being a huge part of a giant Destroyer, a U.S navy ship. It was only part of a deck and a lot of random pieces of equipment, a typical wreckage.

The group stands next to the wreckage as Rick takes a closer look. "Dad! Look!" Carl says, pointing towards a collapsed body leaning against the boat. "Carl, Stay back!" Rick drew his gun when the body moved and groaned. He was about to take the shot when the body, the creature, pushed dirty brown hair out of its face and looked up at him in wondrous blue eyes. Eyes that shone like the sky above them, eyes clear as day. "You are alive." Carl states, crouching beside the person.

She mumbles incoherent words under her breath before falling back into an unconscious state. Daryl approaches beside them. "She's probably already infected."

Rick shook his head. "We should at least see what information we might get out of her. She was part of the Navy, she probably knows of survivors." Rick calls Hershel over. "Is it safe to move her?" He asks, noticing the odd position of one of the girl's legs. "We will have too. She'll freeze out here. "

It was a team effort moving her to a safer location. They put her in the back of the van and drove to their shelter, some home they were camping out at for a few days. Rick carried her inside while T-Dog and Daryl scoped out the place to make sure it was secure.

Hershel set up his supplies in the master bedroom, after they moved the corpses out of the room. Rick ordered everyone out of the room except for Carol and Hershel to check her for bites and scratches. Rick stayed in the room to make sure the girl didn't attack two of the most valuable members of the group.

Hershel set her broken leg and stitched up the side of her head while Carol cleaned up her arms and face then wrapped her cracked ribs. She asked questions and Hershel answered, Rick just sat and watched the process absently. "All we can do now is watch, wait and pray that no walkers come knocking on the door any time soon." Hershel says, pushing hair out of the young woman's face.

"How long do you think she was at the wreckage?" Carol asks, looking down at the girl with pity. "It could have been a week but there is no knowing until she wakes up." He stands up and walks to the window. "If she wakes up" Rick says, being the pessimist of the group. Hershel just nods.

"I'll watch her. You guys can go back with your families." Carol says with a sad smile. Rick grimaces at the cold air in the room created by her stale statement. "Are you sure?" He starts but she was already pushing them out of the room. "I'll let you know if she starts a fever."

After they finished eating the last of their canned food, Daryl decided to go check up on Carol, partially because he was worried the girl reanimated and partially because he was curious about the Naval officer.

Daryl knocks on the master bedroom's door but got no response. "Carol, it's Daryl." He says, with no response again.

Worried, he pushes it open to find Carol asleep beside the bed and a confused Naval Captain just waking up. He steps into the room quietly, so not to wake up Carol.

He caught the Captain's attention quickly and she tried to speak but no words came out.

She clears her throat and tries again."Water." Her throat was so dry it came out course.

He nods, steps out of the room and goes in search for a water bottle. By the time he came back with some water after alerting Rick that the girl was up, Carol was already up and fussing with the girl.

Rick and Hershel followed him into the room and the three of them crowded the girl, eager for some answers. "How she holding up?" Hershel asks, checking her temperature. Rick approaches beside him and starts interrogating. "What's your name? Do you know what happened to your ship?"

"Give the girl some room, she just woke up!" Carol scolds, shooing them further back from the bed.

They all take two steps back and Carol then helped the girl sit up. Daryl walked towards the window and peeked out through the blinds. A few straying walkers roamed about, not having a clue they were inside.

"Where am I?" The young Captain asks, after finishing off the entire water bottle. "Coast of Georgia." Rick says. "We found you in the wreckage of your ship." Her eyes shift down towards the bed and she shakes her head. "We were the last." They all share a moment of silence. "Did you find any other survivors?"

Rick shook his head. "If you guys wanted more answers than that, then I'm afraid I've disappointed you. Radio contact cut out after I got my replacement crew, that was within week 3 of the infection."

Rick sat with the girl a bit more, talking about the situations they've caught themselves in before Hershel declared the girl needed some rest. Rick assigned Daryl to stand guard by the girls room in case she needed anything.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time they shut the master bedroom's door, Sonya was knocked out. Her body was absorbing so much pain, it physically exhausted her all while consciously condemning her to a nightmarish hell.

She kept imagining what had happened to her body during the crash to cause so much pain. Sonya believed that she was awake during the crash, but the memory of it just evaded her. She couldn't seem to grasp a memory of the crash but the smell… the sound… it was definitely there.

Sonya is a sound sleeper, there was nothing that could traumatize her sleeping, not even an apocalypse it seemed. That was a problem. She had a hard time waking up as it was, she would never be able to hear anyone approaching her while she was asleep. It was most definitely when she was the most vulnerable.

Daryl caught onto this as he occasionally checked in on her during the night. She was a silent sleeper, no heavy breathing or snoring but… very dead.

While she was asleep, he worked on making her a crutch for when she woke up. So she wouldn't slow the group down too much if they were on the run. She'd probably like it too, he thought. She seemed like she was the kind of girl to like to do things on her own.

His eyes were getting heavy after a few long hours. The crutch was finished and all his arrows were intact, all he had to do was wait for daylight."

But then light footsteps approached him from the stairs and Glenn appears.

"Daryl, I'll take over. You go on and get some sleep." Glenn says quietly approaching Daryl's station against the wall. "Alright, no need to be too quiet, the girl is a rock." Daryl says, cracking his back as he stands.

Glenn yawns once before clamping his mouth shut.

"Do you think she'll last here?"

Daryl had been wondering that same question almost the entire night. Did she have what it takes to survive? Yes, she was a fighter. She was in the Navy, right? What about her function in the group? She wouldn't exactly fit with the stereotypes like Lori and Carol but she'd get along with Maggie great.

"Probably, if she can survive a wreck like that I'm sure what we do will be a breeze for her." Glenn chuckles then it got awkward. Glenn and Daryl were never ones for conversation, especially about a girl.

"I'm out then." Daryl says, walking down the stairs silently. Glenn could barely hear the hunter's steps. Glenn looked out through the window; the sun would be coming up in two hours. He settled down in his chair and pushed his hat low over his eyes, unlike the deep-sleeping girl in the room, he had the gift of 'light sleep'.

In the morning, when Sonya woke up, everyone was already packing everything into their vehicles. Rick was planning their next move with Daryl while Hershel and Carol were in Sonya's room. They were all very surprised none of the noises woke her up. Given, they were trying to be quiet but it was still shocking that someone can still get a decent amount of sleep.

"Good morning, Sonya." Hershel says to the girl, noticing her eyes fluttering open. She sits up and stretches her arms out wide. After a few minutes of taking in her surroundings again, she smiles at Hershel. "Good morning." Then she noticed they were packing their few things away and frowns.

"We are leaving today." Hershel says. She was about to ask a question but Rick steps into the room. Behind Rick were Glenn, Daryl and Maggie. Glenn smiles at the girl, Maggie gave her a curious look-down and Daryl stares at the window again.

"We cannot stay here another day, it's too dangerous." Rick says. Sonya had caught on real early that he was the leader of the group. She raises an eyebrow. Did he just expect her to go with them with now say in the matter?

"It's not like we are forcing you to go with us or anything." Carol leaps in.

"But," Rick says, giving Carol a look for interrupting him. "It would be very unwise to stay by yourself alone. We won't take you kicking and screaming either. It's your choice." He steps back, to let her think it over.

Sonya looked at the crowd of people she'd known for only… 3 hours tops while she was conscious. She's never met half the group, how does she know they aren't complete whack jobs?

But on the other hand, how could she possibly survive without them? The Navy taught her survival, they taught her that what the musketeers said was true; all for one and one for all. It is the only real way to live and survive.

There were too many pros and cons to resolve then and there. They had to leave and she had to make her mind. "This is a bit of an awkward… situation." She says to them all. "Is this even all of you?" She continues. They look around the room then shake their heads. "No. Only a few others aren't in the room." Glenn says with a friendly smile.

"Alright, well. I hate to be in debt with anyone, especially with my life. So I will go with you… only to repay my thanks. Then from there we can decide… arrangements?" She tries, with a humorous smile.

Glenn laughs awkwardly. "It's a party then." The mood lightened in the room and they all file out so Carol could help the girl get dressed in some of Lori's borrowed clothes.

"Oh, this must really hurt." Carol says, flinching as she helps the girl with a painful step towards the door. "Nothing I can't handle." Sonya says, only a small dose of pain in her voice.

"Hold on, dear." She guides Sonya to a chair then pops her head of the door. "Can a strong young man assist me?" She yells out.

Sonya rolls her eyes but laughs. It was uncomfortable being so weak vulnerable. She'd grown up in a military family and joined the military right out of high school so weakness and pain were just as foreign as emotions and feelings.

Awkwardly, Glenn and Daryl both approach the room. Daryl lifted an eyebrow at Glenn who glared at Daryl. "You're not young." Glenn says. "Yeah, and you ain't strong." Daryl rebuts. Carol snickers at both of them. "Just help the poor girl get to the car."

Carol helps Sonya stand again. Glenn and Daryl each take a shoulder and they slowly make their way down the stairs. "I made you a crutch, but it's down by the cars." Daryl mutters as they slowly take the steps down the stairs. "Thank you." She says, relieved.

"I owe your whole group a lot; I hope I have time to repay you all."

"Don't worry about it." Glenn says. "We've lost a lot of people recently… it's nice to have a new face around here." He pats her shoulder before walking off to find Rick.

Daryl only stays long enough to give her the crutch before going back to his motorcycle. Carol leans against the door and smile at the crowd of people. "These people are good, Sonya. I hope you stay long enough to see that too."

"I'm already beginning to see it, Carol." Sonya responds. "But I've been betrayed enough in my life, I just want to be careful. If I ever come off as, well, ungrateful and guarded, I apologize."

Carol smiles amused. "You aren't the only one here who has been betrayed." Her eyes trail over to Daryl who was inspecting his brother's bike. "I already see so much you have in common with some people here." With those anomalous words, she walks off to T-Dog who was driving her.

"Let's roll out!" Rick says as a crowd of Walkers approach from the east.

Sonya went in and out of consciousness during the ride. Hershel had Maggie keeping an eye on her, waking her up every so often to check on her. She was so delirious from fatigue and pain she didn't realize when they stopped again. When Sonya was awake, she sat and talked with Beth or Maggie.

"So, what was it like to be in the Navy? Were there a lot of hot marines?" Beth asks from the front seat with a giggle. "Most definitely" Sonya laughs. "Nothing looks better then a man in a uniform."

"That's how I managed to catch your mother, Beth." Hershel says, laughing. Maggie smiles sadly, remembering her mother. Sonya scrunches her nose a bit, really hoping they were all not about to go down a path of memory lane. She never liked family moments like this. Luckily in her family, they never had 'family moments'. But still, she has seen enough to know it wasn't her thing.

Sonya remembers when she was first deployed. Her brothers and her father came to say goodbye. They went for a beer the night before and pretty much just said 'goodbye' and 'be safe'. Her brothers were already in the military and her father was a Lt. Admiral before he retired. They all knew the routine.

Watching mothers and wives attack the sailors in kisses and hugs made all of them uncomfortable. Sonya hugged her father and her brothers in a quick brisk fashion that most people would mistake for being awkward. It was more of a 'rough and tough' way of letting them know she was going to miss them.

Needless to say, Sonya was very relieved when their family moment was cut short by Rick signaling them to pull over.


	3. Chapter 3

Rick and the gang surrounded a map displayed on the hood of one of the cars. Sonya stayed back, not wanting to interrupt their group meeting that she wasn't sure she was invited to. She got out of the car only so she could breathe fresh air and stretch out her non-injured leg.

It was hot and humid; no one dared to turn on the air conditioner in the car so it was an actual relief to step outside to a cooler temperature. The trees gave off a little cool shade which Sonya gladly welcomed.

Sonya leaned back against the car door, keeping her wounded foot an inch or two off of the ground. In front of her was Beth, one of the younger ones in the group keeping watch for walkers.

Sonya slowly drew into a trance as she listened to her surroundings for any walkers, she leaned her head up against the car and simply listened. She could hear the frustration in Rick's voice and the others, the birds and squirrels in the trees and… a walker.

Their undead intruder was shuffling through the leaves on the ground, possibly with a limp. To confirm her suspicions, a moan erupted from his undead mouth when he spotted Beth.

"Beth… a walker is approaching." Sonya murmured quietly but clearly. Beth turned to her perplexed.

Sonya lifts her head and pointed to the trees. Beth searched in the trees but found nothing. "Listen Beth, just listen." Sonya said, hobbling towards the girl. The girl finally heard and warned her father. She was about to run after it in the forest but Sonya stopped her. "No… let it come to you, don't risk getting lost in unfamiliar surroundings."

Beth waited until the walker was on the pavement. Daryl held his crossbow up, ready to shoot but Maggie stops tells him to wait. Beth brings the axe down over the walker's head, splitting it down to the throat in two.

"Thanks Sonya." Beth said, softly. Sonya patted the girl's shoulder before hopping back to the car. "You've got real good senses." Beth said, till on watch but a little more at ease with Sonya keeping a look out as well.

"Was it part of your training or something?"

Sonya grinned to herself. "In a way, it was my father's way of training me." Beth was curious but she didn't say anymore. She would have, hopefully, plenty of time to question the interesting captain about her past.

Sonya returned to her trance until Daryl approached her with an offering and an awkward cough.

He had in his hands a pair of wooden crutches he had made from banister railings and rags. She graced him with a smile. "Thanks Daryl, these will be most helpful." He grunted before running off with Rick and his crossbow.

Sonya breathed out a laugh at his ill at ease state, he was trying hard to be welcoming to strangers but it was obvious his upbringing opposed it.

"He is under appreciated around here." Carol said, leaning against the car beside her. Sonya furrowed her brows. "How so? It seemed to me like his opinions are valued by the group."

"But he still doesn't get all the thanks he deserves. Everyone in the group takes him for granted, I've found myself doing it, and no doubt Rick and Hershel have."

Sonya had no clue why Carol was telling her this. But she was new to the group and wanted to get any feel for the people in the group so she could decide if they were dangerous or not. Some people may not come off as dangerous, they could be amiable and passive but their actions can cause you indirect harm. Stupidity and selfishness seemed to be what caused Sonya the most harm in her day.

Little did she know that the group has already dealt with a friend who ended up being one of the most dangerous. They were on the same boat she was.

Sonya felt useless as everyone rushed around to prepare to move on. They were filling water up, re-packing, strategizing and hunting. The most help she could give was keeping a look out with Beth and Carl. It was embarrassing because she didn't have any sort of weapon. She did become quick friends with the two youngsters though.

"Do you think Daryl could fashion a blade on these crutches for me? I think I'd kick ass with a crutch-sword." She told Carl. He laughed, finally warming up to the Captain.

"So you were really a captain in the navy?" Beth asked, from a few feet away.

"For a little while yes." Sonya looks down at her tattered uniform. She was wearing a navy blue tank top with Navy written on it in white block letters and the Navy issued blue camouflage pants worn in active duty. Her shirt had lost its sleeves awhile ago to serve as a bandage for a comrade and now the rest sat in the back of the car. She was not surprised however how well her combat boots have lasted through the whole ordeal.

Everyone was packing everything up, just waiting on the last two of the pack to arrive. Carl and Beth traded places with Carol and T-Dog so they would bother their new friend.

"Have you killed any terrorists?" Carl asked.

"Are men in uniform as hot as everyone says they are?" Beth giggled, getting a glare from Carl.

"Have you met the president?"

"Are the marines as hot as everyone says… or said?" Beth asked, again.

Sonya laughed and noticed how Lori, Glenn and Maggie listened in.

"Yes, I've been in active battle with terrorists on the coast of Sudan… top secret kind of stuff but I suppose that doesn't matter anymore. And honestly, I can't give a straight opinion about men in uniforms because most of them are complete pigs… but I did date a marine." She winked at Beth who giggled again. "I met the President when he attended my father's memorial service." Sonya said, lightly. "He was nice and sympathetic but I voted republican so it was a little uncomfortable for me." They laugh.

"Hey! I think we just found our paradise." Daryl said, breaking their conversation as he and rick returned from their fruitless hunt. Rick looked so ecstatic at his new plan.

'Paradise' ended up being a state prison with tall fences, intact cement buildings and guard towers. It was perfect. It was paradise like Daryl had told them.

The only problem was that it was overrun with walkers, a lot of walkers. More than Sonya was sure her new ground could handle… but maybe she was underestimating them.

Walkers occupied every field and no doubt a lot more inside. Sonya knew she would only slow them down with her leg in the shape it was. T-Dog seemed to notice her struggle as they approached the fence. He ushered her into the center with Lori as everyone else fought back any walker who got too close. Rick cut a hole into the fence then helped everyone get through. T-Dog and he were the last ones through, in the nick of time.

The crutches couldn't move her fast enough, Beth held onto them for her and Daryl put his arm around her and practically dragged her along with the rest.

Rick began spouting out his instructions to everyone. His plan was well strategized; Sonya could definitely see the cop in him.

"I'm closing the gate. You all give me cover. Create a distraction at the fences. I need some of you up in the towers… Daryl, you got that?"

He nodded. "I'll go too." Sonya said, determined to show her worth.

"Are you sure?" Rick asked her. She gave him a look. Had he forgotten she was military trained? Or was the fact that she was a woman blinding his judgement?

He apologized immediately.

She was joining Daryl up on the tower, this was their test to see how well of a shot she was. Daryl handed her a rifle and she could see the wonder in his eyes. "Don't fret. I won't shoot anything that can shoot back." She said, stationing herself up on the tower beside Carol.

She waited for them to distract the majority of them to one side of the fence then took aim. She picked off the ones in front of Rick quickly. She aimed, shot and reloaded faster than anyone. She scored highest marksman in her unit, not that she bragged… much.

Carol took a terrible shot and Sonya looked over at her. "Sorry." Carol called out to Rick after nearly shooting him in the foot. While she reloaded, Sonya laughed, despite the situation.

She kept going until she ran out of ammo then she looked over at Daryl, who was taking careful and skillful shots with his crossbow. She saw the faces of glee after a successful shot from everyone in their group, except for the skilled Daryl who just concentrated.

The looks on everyone else's faces… they weren't the bloodthirsty look she was familiar with; it was more a look of pride and hope. Like each shot they took was something closer to a better life for all of them.

They each could hold their own in a fight, from Beth to Daryl. When the firing stopped and every dead walker seized to thirst for their flesh, they climbed down from the towers and ran to their new home.

Carol practically ran inside to see Rick, only stopping to check on the so-pregnant-about-to-burst Lori. She was followed by Daryl and Carl. Once again, Sonya found herself way behind hobbling on her unsteady crutches.

"We haven't had this much space since the farm?" Carol yells excitedly.

Sonya stayed beside the overturned bus with her crutch, just watching as the survivors as they interacted in a surrounding so free and hopeful. They gathered around, excited for the prospects, barely noticing the excluded Captain.

It made her feel happy, in a sad way. She'd rather watch people enjoy themselves and live free than actually feel it herself. Maybe that was the poetic reason for her joining the Navy. Better to protect the country full of freedom and happiness and watch from afar.

Or maybe she was just kind of creepy in that way.

That was until they noticed her standing alone and practically dragged her into the center with the rest of them.

"I understand if you are against domestic work and all, we've had a gal just like ya in our group before… but it's all you can handle right now with your leg the way it is." Lori says, sitting down beside her in the makeshift camp.

"No, it's fine. You should just know I've grown up in the military, I can't tell you the first thing about cooking and cleaning." She says, very much doubting the said 'gal' was anything like her.

"Never too late to learn the survival chores." Carl says, plopping down beside his mother who smiles lovingly at him. "How about instead, you start off with counting the ammo we've got left?" Glenn says, making the perfect compromise.

It needed to be done, and it was more in her range of things to do.

So there she sat for the next hour with Lori. After she had finished counting and logging the ammo left, she helped Lori with the camp fire.

If there were two women on earth who had the least amount of things in common, it would be those two.

Lori was born and raised in the south to do everything like a woman in the south should. She cared for her husband and son, she cleaned the house and didn't have a job. The first time she ever picked up a gun was to protect her family and she probably wouldn't have without them.

Sonya on the other hand, was independent from any sort of relationship that she held. Any boyfriend, or fiancé, that she had was sure to know that it was her job first, then him. She never lived in one place to long before her father moved them again because of his job. And she was raised to sacrifice herself as an act of heroism, just like her father did.

But still, the two got along just fine as they put aside their differences and enjoyed the company of each other. Obviously it was just formal, polite chatter but they learned to respect each other for who they were. Sonya respected the loyalty that Lori had for her family, something she didn't think she could ever do.

Lori respected the courage and selflessness that she found inside Sonya, just by listening to her and by her behavior. If anyone gave the girl a hard time while she was here, Lori was sure to have Sonya's back.

Hey readers, thanks for reading my story. If you have any questions just ask. I love feedback of all sorts. Just don't bitch at me or anything. Keep it mature. If I made any mistakes just let me know and I'll fix it.

And if you'd like me to look into any of your stories, just let me know and I will. :D

Long live Daryl!


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Sonya woke up to an explosion of pain in her broken leg. She cussed out the pain quietly and grabbed hold of the sleeping bag with a fist to ease it. The pain came in waves; when she finally relaxed her leg again it struck again and worse each time.

"What's got you cussin' like a sailor over there?" Daryl mutters while smirking at his own pun from across the smoldering fire pit. "Haha, funny." She says, sarcastically "it's my leg, hurts like a bitch right now." She answers, using her elbows to push up into a sitting position.

"I've got some heavy pain killers in my motorcycle's saddle bag… If it's real bad." He says as he stands up. Hmmm, she wondered, how did he come across those?

She squints up at him, thoughtfully. "I'd hate for you to waste them on me."

"Waste them? Unless you plan on burying them for safe keeping then I think they'd be put into some use." He responds. _He sure is real sassy in the morning_, Sonya thinks to herself.

"Then yes, if it isn't too much trouble."

Daryl rolls his eyes at her. "If it were any trouble then I wouldn't be askin' you." She huffs, losing patience with the stubborn redneck. "Alright, then go get me some damn drugs already."

He chuckles, making way through the campsite to his motorcycle just outside of the prison gate. She was tempted to grab his leg and trip him when he nudges her with his foot as he passes by.

She took in her new surroundings, with the new morning radiance. The sun was barely peeking out over the tree tops, casting a warm glow across the prison walls. Oddly, this new light made it a lot more welcoming than last night's shadowy moonlight.

Yesterday while Rick was going on about his big plan with the place, she was skeptical. They hadn't even touched the prison filled with walkers yet, the chances they succeed without any casualties are microscopic. But now, in this new light, she would see what he was imagining.

He was imagining a place where he could raise a family and not have to watch his back every minute for walkers.

While Daryl was gone, Rick and Hershel started shifting out of their deep slumber. Sonya hoped it wasn't her fault for being so loud. Rick must've been exhausted from all the work he did yesterday, especially since he stayed up the latest.

"Morning." Rick grumbles, pulling out of his sleeping bag.

"Sorry if I woke you guys." Sonya says, "I told Daryl my leg was bothering me and he ran off for some pills to ease the pain."

"No problem," Rick says, stretching out his long arms over his head.

"We need to get an early start this morning if we want to clear out a portion of the prison." He says, hastily jumping to his feet. Hershel voiced his agreement as he slowly rolled out his sleeping bag.

Gradually, everyone else started waking up, one way or another. Carl practically popped out of his sleeping bag like some kind of vampire then proceeded slap Glenn awake. Carol, being one of those 'cheerful, sunshine' kind of people, smiled herself awake which freaked Sonya out. T-Dog snored himself awake while Beth, Maggie and Lori refused to budge out of their sleeping bags until the sun was beating down on them.

"Here." Daryl returns to hand Sonya two pain killers and his canteen of water.

She washed the pills down with a swallow, realizing too late that it was not in fact water but whiskey. She coughed, holding her mouth.

Everyone looked over at him worried but she shook her head, still coughing. "I'm fine." She wheezed out. She glared up at Daryl who laughed. "Can't handle your drink?"

"I can… just a warning would've been nice."

Consuming alcohol with drugs doubles the effect it has on the human body. Sonya was unfortunate in this case because she became extremely drowsy and slurred for the next five hours.

The morning went by fast with Sonya going in and out of focus. By the time the drowsiness wore out Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, Rick and T-Dog were pulling open the gate and beating down on the walkers. She joined Lori, Hershel, Carl, Beth and Carol on the other side of the fence making a ruckus.

"Hey! Get your dirty ass over here!" She yells, clutching the fence with her hands to keep weight off of her bad leg.

Once a walker came up close enough, she pulled out her bowie-knife and stabbed it directly through the eye. That was the only walker that got close enough, the rest followed the pack inside of the fence after Rick.

It was around 3:00 when Daryl and Rick emerged from the cells to bring them inside. T-Dog and Glenn were pulling out walkers from the cell block as they gathered their things.

Daryl walked up beside Sonya as she tried dragging a sleeping bag and duffel. He slung them over his shoulder with ease and smirked at her again.

"You make me feel completely useless, Daryl. Wait until this damn cast is off my leg and then I'll be lapping you."

He just chuckles at her and leads her inside of the cell block.

"You might want to take a lower level cell," Carol says with a friendly pat on her shoulder. "Yeah, I don't even want to attempt getting up those stairs with my leg like this." She responds with an envious sigh towards everyone with able two legs.

"Do you wanna be my cell buddy?" Beth asks, appearing almost out of thin air. "Sure… you don't snore do you?" Sonya asks. "I don't thinks so… do you?"

Sonya shrugged, a ghost of a smile creeping on her face. "I guess you'll find out."

That afternoon was exhausting. Almost everyone immediately laid down for a nap. It was only four o clock by the time they got everything in but with the lack of food, the energy lost knocking down walkers and the amount of time they were on the run, it was completely understandable how tired they were.

Except for Sonya because she'd barely done anything so she was the first one on guard. Since the gate is closed and there weren't any real dangers they let her sit guard by the door with a rifle.

It helped that she was only a yell away from the group.

"Hey." Glenn says, walking up to Sonya a few hours later. She was sitting against the wall with her casted leg stretched out in front of her and her good leg bent at the knee with the rifle across her lap. "Hello." She greets with a smile.

"Any paranormal activity?" He asks, sitting down beside her.

"A few moaners down the hall, tried to shut them up, they've been going at it for a few hours." She jokes.

Glenn slides down the wall to sit beside her. "How long did Hershel say you have to keep the cast on?"

"Another three weeks."

"That is a major bummer. I" She nodded her head absent-mindedly.

"Sitting around has never settled well with me. I've been active all my life. From jumping off barns as a kid to stealth missions off the coast of Somalia."

Glenn, for the sake of passing time, asked her to tell him about her time in the military.

"My later career consisted mostly of top-secret missions handed to me directly by the inner circle of the White House, or occasionally by a committee in Congress. My missions spread across the map. I've helped with hostage situations off the coast of Madagascar, which was actually a cover up, not a secret.

Most of my crew was shot by renegade soldiers, bad publicity for public relations so they kept that one a big secret."

"Did you ever have a hand in the Somali pirating?"

"I was called in for sniper assistance in 2009 with the marines in the Combined Task force."

"Wait, so you are a sniper too? I thought these positions took training and stuff."

Sonya smiles at him. "It does, I've been in training since I was 5 years old. My placement exam put me above everyone else around my age. They wanted to promote me at some rate for publicity in some sort of 'Heroic family' story. Anyways, I applied for a place in one of the 'secretive' ops so I'd have more freedom and well… fun. I've acted as sniper, captain, aviator and even medic. It's the job description."

"So… you were like Black Ops?"

"In a way, yes."

"And what about that heroic family?"

"I have a straight line of war heroes in my family. My father was a hero in the Gulf War, his father was a hero in World War II and Vietnam, his father was in the First World War, then the Civil War, Revolutionary War, French Indian War etc. Any war in America, my ancestors fought in it."

"Wow. That's a lot of pressure.

Sonya shrugs. "I've got four brothers. Navy, Army, Marines, Coast Guard and Air force."

"You know, this could be considered a way. A war on the Dead. If we all live this, you will be continuing the line of heroes."

"But to continue that line, I have to be a hero. That is kind of hard to do with a cast on my leg."

"Only for three more weeks." Glenn responds like the wise little Asian he is.

"I suppose you are right. But the key is to survive it. Who knows if any of us are going to survive it, hell there's no way we can see the end of this thing."

"All I want to do is make an impact as little as it is. A little bit of hope for the next generation, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that. That's what this place is, right? It's hope for humanity."

They finish the conversation both feeling a shit ton more wise and understanding. It is a lot to take in. All this time, they think about now and what the immediate next is. Who has ever thought that far into the future? Is there going to be a next year? Is there going to be a next generation?

"Hey." Daryl says, walking towards them with his cross-bow slung over his shoulder. "I'm here to swap." He gives Glenn a look, nodding his head. "Alright, I was getting a little sleepy anyways." Sonya says as Daryl pulls her up carefully.

"I put the bottle of pills on your bed, if you need any tonight." He mumbles, leaning against the wall.

"Thank you, Daryl." Sonya smiles at him before hobbling away towards the cell block.

Glenn and Daryl stay back to guard the door together.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X**

Daryl was curious about what Glenn and Sony had been talking about that got both of them into a silent thoughtful mood. Glenn looked like he was about to face entire army of walkers while Sonya left the room barely using her crutch to help her walk.

"What the hell did you guys just talk about?" He asks, casually to Glenn.

"Her life and stuff." He says 'mysteriously'.

"Huh." Daryl responds, not satisfied but not desperate enough to ask Glenn to go more in-depth.

"you know… I feel like you and Sonya have a lot in common. Maybe not your past but… your personalities, maybe? No… not quite that…" Glenn mutters, trying to figure out what exactly it was about Sonya and Daryl that seemed so similar.

"It's almost like you guys are in sync with each other, ya know. You both fight and you both are proud." Daryl rolls his eyes. "Shuddup, Glenn. I don't want to hear you psychology shit."

"The word you are looking for Daryl is Psycho-analyze." Glenn responds with a smirk.

Daryl just snorted in response. "The word I was thinking of was 'Pysch shit, Glenn."

"Whatever."

"Hey Daryl. Why did you never join the military? I thought rednecks were really patriotic."

"Couldn't join, I never finished high school.. Don't matter anyways, I never wanted to. There are just a bunch of pussies with uniforms anyways."

* * *

**So, I need to update more but at least I haven't abandoned my story just yet. If you guys have any questions, just review. If I have any inconsistencies, it would be great if you guys can let me know so I can fix them. any reviews would be appreciated but not necessary. **

**I hope you guys enjoy my story and I hope to have more out soon. **


End file.
